Frequency of FSSC Internal Audit

Hi Everyone, 

It's my first time to post. I was recently transferred from being an operation supervisor to Internal auditor.  We are into oil manufacturing. I have 8 years experience in third party audit but only as an auditee. We are HACCP certified but the management is  aiming for FSSC. Being an auditor (Just waiting for my training) and FSSC is SOOOO new to me but  I am very passionate with improvement so I am excited for the future improvements.   (Sorry for the long intro  :spoton:)

My question is, is risk assessment necessary to come up with internal audit schedule in FSSC standard? I need to come up with the schedule so I could explain to the management that we must first assess the readiness of our company before we push through FSSC. We are not yet certified with FSMS so I know it will not be easy. They want to schedule the FSSC first stage audit in January!!!! 

NQA-ISO-22000-Implementation-Guide (1).pdf   3.21MB   128 downloadsI think the attached document can be helpful

First, welcome!

Next - considering this is November and your company has decided on January for the audit the first order of business is to inform management/owner their projected audit date is completely unrealistic.

Then I would ask if they would allow you to obtain the services of an FSSC Consultant that can do the first overall review of documentation and the facility itself - in effect a GAP Analysis to see where they stand now and what needs to done.  The Consultant could also assist you in working up your initial audit schedules, programs, etc.

We are not handling FSSC, thus this is not a self-advertisement.